Polish Christmas traditions include thorough cleaning before Christmas Eve and believing an animal's voice can be human. Christmas and St. Nicholas Day are celebrated separately, weeks apart. On Christmas Eve, families light candles after the youngest sees the first star, then share wafer and wish for health. They remember deceased family and include animals in their meatless meal representing the four corners of earth. Carolers such as groups of boys dressed as biblical characters sing door-to-door and receive money.

1. Traditions

2. Polish customs, especially at Christmas time, are
both beautiful and meaningful. The preparations
for Christmas begin many days before the actual
celebration Christmas. The insides of the houses
are also cleaned thoroughly. It is believed that if a
house is dirty on Christmas Eve, it will remain
dirty all next year. A white Christmas is
considered a real Christmas; therefore, everybody
is happy when there is fresh snow outside. It is
also believed that animals can speak with a
human voice.

3. Christmas and Santa Claus Day are not celebrated at
the same time in Poland, but rather three weeks
apart. Santa Claus Day is celebrated on December
6th, the name day of St. Nicholas. This is when St.
Nicholas visits some children in person or secretly
during the night.

4. Straw is put under white tablecloth. Some maidens
predict their future from the straw. After supper,
they pull out blades of straw from beneath the
tablecloth. A green one foretells marriage; a
withered one signifies waiting; a yellow one
predicts spinsterhood; and a very short one
foreshadows an early grave.

5. Poles are famous for their hospitality, especially
during Christmas. In Poland, an additional seat is
kept for somebody unknown at the supper table.
No one should be left alone at Christmas, so
strangers are welcomed to the Christmas supper.
This is to remind us that Mary and Joseph were
also looking for shelter.

6. The Christmas tree is usually brought to the house
just a couple of days before Christmas and since
the adults are busy with work and Christmas
shopping, children are commanded to help
with the Christmas tree decorations - long chains
of colorful paper and other shapes.

7. After sunset, the youngest child is sent to watch for
the first star. This is why the Eve dinner is also
known as the Star Supper. Only then are the
candles on the table lit and the dinner begun. But
not a morsel is eaten before the "breaking of the
wafer”.

8. The family member takes the wafer, breaks it and shares
it with the next eldest with wishes for good health and
prosperity, and a kiss on each cheek. Each person then
exchanges wafer with everyone else at the table. It can
be a very emotional time as grudges are forgotten and
deceased family members are remembered. Some Poles
share a pink-colored wafers with the household (and
barnyard) animals because they were the first to greet
the Baby Jesus at midnight. The animals also receive a
taste of every course of the meal mixed in with their
feed. Instead of sending Christmas cards to friends and
family not present, Poles send wafers, first tearing off
a small corner to show that the donor has broken it
with them as a token of affection.

9. Christmas Eve is a meatless meal because, years ago, Roman Catholics
fasted for the four weeks of Advent, including Christmas Eve. In
the past there were thirteen main dishes (representing the
Apostles and Christ), but, these days, many families have replaced
this tradition with a twelve-fruit compote for dessert. The foods
are to represent the four corners of the earth -- mushrooms from
the forest, grain from the fields, fruit from the orchards, and fish
from the lakes and sea. Meals vary from family to family but
usually include a special soup followed by many elegant fish
preparations, vegetables, and dumplings. Typical dishes include
borscht with mushroom dumplings, carp in aspic, herring,
breaded whitefish, meatless cabbage rolls, and noodles with
poppyseed. Desserts might include nuts, tangerines, chocolates,
poppyseed roll, a jam-filled flat pastry, honey-spice cake,
gingerbread cookies, fruit compote.

10. When night begins to fall, you can hear stamping and jingling,
followed by Christmas carol singing outside. Carolers begin
their wandering from home to home. Herody, a popular
form of caroling, is a live performance usually played by
twelve young boys. Dressed in special costumes, they
include King Herod, a field marshal, a knight, a soldier, an
angel, a devil, death, a Jew, Mary, shepherds, and
sometimes the Three Kings and an accordionist. They sing
pastoral songs and carols, and when let into a house,
perform scenes from King Herod's life. Oration and songs
vary and depend upon to whom they are being addressed:
the owner of the house, a young woman about to be
married, a widow, etc. At the conclusion, the performers are
offered refreshments and some money. Also popular is
caroling with a crib and with a star. Usually, those are
items are carried by three caroling teenagers. They, too, are
given some money.

11. Gabriela Bagnicka
2 c